Hi there - My name is Claudia. I live with my hubby and our two furry kids in Georgia, USA. Originally I am from Germany - southern belle from Bavaria replanted to the Southern US. I am very addicted to knitting - 4-5 projects going at the same time... What can I say...

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Babies All Around...

Somehow a lot of people seem to have babies these days. Which is nice for a knitter - because the little projects go fast and babies look adorable in hand knits.

So - at KNITCH on Sunday I bought the Debbie Bliss "Baby Cashmerino" book, and since I heard that one of the women I work with just had another grandbaby in her family, I whipped out some adorable blue baby booties for Gentry, the little baby boy. They will ship to his grandma in Tennessee next week.

Aren't they cute???

So, while I have you here... I am already racking my brain to come up with a to-do list for Christmas. Have you read Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Yarn Harlot - The Secret Life of a Knitter?

There is a chapter called "IT". And she describes her yearly Christmas gift knitting frenzy. Well, um, eh... that is me... I swear, she must have videotaped me at some point in my life... So, this year (and I say this every year, of course) I am starting in July, not in October or November. I am aware of the holidays a few months ahead of time - YAY. So, let's see if I can make it unstressful this year. I already bought a couple of books to get some brain waves going, Handknit Holidays and Holiday Knits.

At some point I just have to sit down, find patterns, and match the list of names with projects. Then - I swear - I will go through my stash and then - and only then - will I buy yarn...

SO - I already have the name list - divided into family members and friends. There are 10 adults, an 8-year-old and an 8-month-old baby in my family. And in the group of friends I have 4 adults, one 10-year-old and 2 toddlers. So, that's a total of 19 knitted gifts. Oh boy - I don't think I know what I am doing here. But at least I have time, right?

In addition I have to send some of the gifts to Germany, which means they have to be finished by the end of November. Gotta calculate the SLOW holiday season mail service into the process...

So, I am thinking along the lines of the following gifts - I am thinking SMALL here. It'll probably be a sea of felted hats, sets of coasters, oven mitts & potholders, hats, mittens, scarves, socks, a shawl or two, Christmas ornaments and toys. Man, I am getting in the "Jingle Bells" mood here... And it's a steaming hot day in July here in Georgia... Stay tuned for a more detailed gift list ;-)

And look at our adorable doggies. Hubby emailed me this picture earlier today. He must have taken it last night while I was out knitting at the SNB meeting.

As usual, Hermione gives the photographer the evil eye... Maybe I should make them a toy doggie for Xmas. Like this one?

Nah - I don't think I'll bother... They'll just get the stuffing out in heartbeat...